The Amazon River Basin covers some 40% of the South American continent and includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname, as well as French Guiana, a department of France.

Brasil is divided into 26 states, and its biggest one is the Amazonia. Manaus is the capital of the Amazonia, situated on the confluence between Rìo Negro and Rìo Solimoes. It has 2.2 million inhabitants and is just another big brazilian city, but in the middle of the rainforest. It is one of the cities where The World Cup 2014 will be celebrated. I could see the constructions of the staduim, and they are also rebuilding the airport

The first day I arrived in Manaus I was lucky to find that there was a film festival going on at the opera house, and a film was about to start! We watched a french film: "The son of the others". If you haven't watched it I highly recomend it!

The city is full of street markets, selling everything you can imagine. Specially near to the port where all boats to the different towns of the Amazonia depart. There you can literally find everything you could be looking for!

I had considered to travel on one of these boats for 7 days from Manaus to Tabatinga, but people that had done it told me it wasnt a nice experience....at all! 7 days sleeping in a hammock, and sharing bathroom with another 100 people at least...

There is a natural phenomenon that occurs near Manaus called the meeting of the Waters, caused by the confluence of the Negro River's dark water and the Solimões River's muddy brown water that come together to form the Amazonas River. For 6 km both rivers waters run side by side, without mixing. This phenomenon is caused by the difference between the water temperatures and current speeds

I only stayed the first and the last night on the city. From Manaus, I booked a tour with Antonio Amazon Tours for 3 days on the Jungle. We were driven two hours on a van, and then 1 hour on a boat through the Urubu river up to the lodge. It is dry season in November, and it is possible to see how much more the tide grows. The river drains from west to east, from Iquitos in Peru to all the way across Brazil to the Atlantic

I came to the jungle knowing it was going to be very hot, very humid, and that I was going to find many flies, spiders, and all kind if insects, but it is not the same imaginig it than experience it. First of all it happens that you transpire all day long, any time, it doesn't matter if you're waking or just sitting.on the shade, your face and body is wet. I thought nothing could be more humid than when I was in Mexico, but the Amazonia is. Where I was, in the Rio Urubu, there are not many mosquitos, but hundreds types of flies that keep annoying you day and night.The first night we slept in the jungle. We walked an hour and a half to a camp they've got, and set our hammocks with mosquitonet included. Francisco, our guide, had brought vegetables, rice, chicken and sausages to cook at the camp site

. We collected wood and plants to make plates, set a fire before it got dark, and cooked our dinner.

To be honest I didn't feel safe in the jungle, probably because Francisco keept talking about all kind of animals and insects we could find, and that they get out at night. Specially tarantulas...the insect I hate the most...

There are a lot of different noises at night, so it takes a while to get to sleep, but then I sleept longer than I had in a few weeks.

The morning after the sun came out at 5.40, and we all woke up to get deeper into the jungle. This time was much more pleasant to walk, as it was still fresh, and the sunrise was making the jungle much more charming. We walked for 2.5 hours deeper in the jungle, and we could see how the vegetation gets thicker the deeper you are, trees are higher and wider, there are more birds and different tipes of plants.

It was an experience that I wanted to have, but I don't think I would repeat it. It is very different to hike in the jungle, your energies are wasted much faster!